Barton County democrat. [volume] (Great Bend, Kan.) 1885-1915, 1887-05-19
THE eAzARs OF CAIRO.
Quaint and Dingy Shops and Their Rich
Oriental Treasures.

Quaint and Dingy shops and Their htch
| Oriental Treasures
The Cairene bazars are as marvellous
in their way as any thing one sees in
this .'crazy-quilt'' city. You can go to
them in a carriage, but not through
them. You can go through them par
! TALLY on donkeys; but to see them
thoroughly you should 90 to them often
| and on foot. Narrow alleys between
the low booths, where solemn-gowned
and turbaned creatures sit cross-legged,
smoking, drinking coffee, counting
their beads, or in silent meditation.
From any of which employments they
sheep" "How much?" Ten pias-
tres "Too much.' "No. very
sheep" Eight piastres?" Ten.
''Six piastres?'' Ten; very sheep"
-Four piastresP" mo, no, noi' Then
you turn away laughing. Sometimes
you are allowed to go; but usually you
are soon stopped, and the dialogue be-
gins again, when you should stand
manfully by your lowest offer. Ten
piastre?' Four Eight piastre?''
-Four" six piastre ?'' -Four"
"Ohl am ruinedr' Four" Take.
take!" with an accent of despair that
seems to portend instant bankruptcy.
You feel a little mean, but recover
rapidly when the merchant having put
away your piastres eagerly offers you
| the rest of his stock at the same price.
Then You feel "done," and inclined to
demand the return of a part of your
money. There are certain expensive
things, like silk, where you have to sit
down and spend the morning. 1t is
very amusing to see the AnglOSaXOns,
fresh and fair and clean, and striving
10 be patient, sitting among the grave
and shadowy Orientals, and waiting
until a decent offer is made. Some
times the alleys are shaded from the
sun by mattings or boards or rugs
stretched from roof to roof of the high,
overhanging houses, and the sunlight
strikes through riffs and cracks in rays
and spears of solid gold. Silks from
Damascus and soft stuffs of mixed cot
ton and silk; gold and silver orlla-
ments, bracelets and anklets, and
rings and collars rough work
from the Soudan and fine work
!
terry and brasswork, rags and mattings.
fruit and tobacco and grain, coffee and
drugs and china and carved wood,
scarfs and handkerchiefs, firearms and
swords and strange knives. In the
Tunis Bazaar are the Moors, who are
neither black, umbra, nor red nor
white, but are of strange bleached OF
| livid hue. Here are wooden stuffs and
cotton stuffs, and slippers of curious
shapes and of all sizes and colors. The
wood bazar, where one can see and
smell the pine, dear to all Southern
hearts, and logs that might have come
from the mesquite trees of Texas. The
spice baZar, darker and more pictur-
esque than any other, where the air is
heavy with rich odOrs and perfumes,
some familiar, some strange, and where
one goes back Involuntary to the
familiar old story of how the jealous
brethren, wishing to get rid of the
young dreamer" Gifted up their eyes
and looked, and behold company OF
Ishmaelites came from Gilead with
their camels, bearing spices and balm
and myrrh, going to carry it down to
Egypt. Anu % Tic young OOSepH
was sold. And to this day the cara
vans come, bringing their spices down
into Egypt Following the tortuous
lane to what seems an indefinite dis
lance refusing bargains and beggars
on all sides, making your way with
difficulty in some places because of the
throng of people, you come ut last to
the old town gate, the Bah Ell Zuweleh,
or, as it is often called, the Bah ell Nut
awelli, from a tradition that the most
highly revered of all the Mohammedan
saints lives behind one of the doors.
| The two huge towers on either side are
built of solid blocks of stone. The
| gates have bars of iron on them, and
between the iron and the wood are
rows upon rows of nails, and on the
nails are bits of rags, of string, OF
leather; punches of hair and wool
This extraordinary decoration is made
| by people who enter into contracts or
who make vows-a nail is put in rs a
witness, or piece of string is tied to a
nail already there. Once having done
this, the Moslem feels he has sworn by
the holy saint, and will on no account
break his oath. Outside the gate hang
bales of wood and stone, thrown into
the city during the siege of Mohammed
| Ah.-COr. Louisville COmrter-JOurnGL.
Witches in Italy.